Victorian women MPs say they fear for their safety as state election looms

Victorian upper-house MP Georgie Purcell says she is on high alert with five weeks until the state election, after she publicly backed federal MP Helen Haines, who was allegedly attacked by a constituent in her regional Victorian electorate on Monday.

Within hours of posting her statement of support, Purcell received comments from constituents. One said he wished the attack had happened to her; another told her she should be scared. She reported both, but says there is nothing more she can do, because the threats are not specific enough for police to take further action.

Purcell, whose region partly overlaps Haines's federal electorate, says she is thinking about the 10 days of pre-polling due to begin soon, when anyone wanting to target a candidate or MP will find it easy to work out where they are.

'Sexualised' and 'violent'

She is not alone. Nationals MP Annabelle Cleeland, whose Euroa electorate covers 11,452 square kilometres, says she shares her live location with her husband and staff when travelling.

"I don't feel like I signed up for this job to put my children in harm's way and, right now, I'm frightened about that," she told ABC Radio Melbourne on Thursday, describing the threats as sexualised and violent and aimed at weaknesses such as children and home.

MPs across Victoria's political spectrum, predominantly women, say threats intensified during the state's Covid lockdowns and have stayed constant since. During the pandemic an effigy of then premier Daniel Andrews was subjected to a mock execution on the steps of parliament. Andrews later said his family was being threatened, and is understood to have had round-the-clock protection at the time. After he resigned in 2024 he lost his security detail, and images of where he has been living recently appeared on the front page of a national newspaper.

His successor, Jacinta Allan, also faced hostility, particularly in regional Victoria over the emergency services levy and laws giving state body VicGrid and its contractors access to private land without a landholder's consent. At the 2025 Bush Summit, an audience member stood on a chair with a noose around her neck. A mobile billboard reading "ditch the witch", carrying AI-generated images of Allan, travelled around Melbourne's CBD for six weeks. A former staff member said Allan legitimately feared for her safety.

Policing changes under discussion

Threats against federal MPs are managed by the Australian federal police, which builds intelligence on repeated behaviour and patterns over time. Purcell says individual complaints in Victoria are dealt with separately by police. She has had access to more security measures since beginning a relationship with federal Labor MP Josh Burns, not because she is a state MP but because her partner is a federal one.

On Wednesday, premier Ben Carroll met the Victorian electoral commissioner and police chief commissioner Mike Bush, as well as cabinet, to discuss stronger safety measures for MPs. Carroll said the work would happen progressively and as soon as possible, and that what had happened must be a turning point for political debate. Bush said police wanted a centralised "single-stop shop" for reporting threats so they could be proactive.

As of Thursday afternoon, the changes had not been communicated to Victorian MPs, who were asked to attend a briefing with police on Friday. For now their only guidance was a Tuesday email from the Department of Parliamentary Services advising them to monitor and control access to their electorate offices, check external areas on CCTV before leaving and remember that a duress button is available in an emergency.

Source: The Guardian.